Ancient Macedonia - Paionia by Basil of Macedon

Basil Chulev •∘⊕∘•

Ancient Macedonia

paionia

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Skopje, Macedonia 2015

The intention of this essay is to provide simple and easy to understand overview of periods from ancient Macedonian history and culture. It avoids substantial and detailed explanations that consider wider historical background of the described events and persons, and is written primarily for those approaching the topic for the first time. It also avoids complex explanatory comments or insightful footnotes on the citations from the sources. The given explanatory notes are prevalently etymological. The introduction comprises the early periods of Macedonian history and presents a brief overall retrospective of prehistoric Macedonia. The time-frame elaborated as a main theme of this essay ranges from the beginning until the end of the 1st millennium BCE. The interpretations given here are meant to enhance our understanding and appreciation of a kingdom that became a superpower of the ancient world. They are focused strictly on the Macedonian aspect of the story disregarding the wider geo-political perspective. All the dates and references to centuries are „BCE“ (Before the Common Era) except where indicated otherwise. Throughout this essay, Macedonia/Macedonians generally refer to the area of the mainland north of Mount Olymp (lat. Olympus), southeast of the Mount Šar (lat. Scardus) and west of the Rhodope Mountains. Macedonian peninsula refers to what is called „Balkans“ as of the 19th century, occupying the part of southeastern Europe that lies south of the Danube and Sava rivers and forms a peninsula bounded by the Adriatic and Ionian seas in the west, the Aegean and Black seas in the east, and the Mediterranean Sea in the south. Latinized/Anglicized names are given in parenthesis, some names and technical terms are transliterated and these will be obvious when they appear. All terms and titles (e.g. Iliad/Ilion) have been transliterated directly from their original ancient forms with as few changes as possible: thus river Strumon rather then Strymon, and Stubera instead of Stybera. The terminology and concepts that are modern inventions (such as 'Hellenistic' or 'Greek') are altogether avoided. Such empirically wrong terms, used improperly by the modern historiography, were originally meant to describe totally different categories (such as the artistic periods) and were unknown to the ancient world. Their continued use perpetuates misleading assumptions. The modern-historiography 'privileged moments' are largely avoided too. For historians today one such a privileged moment (of places and monuments as 'clasical') is 'Clasical Athens', the Athens of the 5th and 4th centuries BCE. But when and why is so regarded? Was 'Clasical Athens regarded as 'Clasical' already in antiquity? By whom? The definitions, current meanings and related concepts of the words in English are taken from the Oxford American Dictionary and Thesaurus (Mac OsX version 1.0.2 for PowerPC) and/or Meriam-Webster online dictionary. For the words in Macedonian is used the online ENCYCLOPÆDIA MACEDONICA (MAKEDONSKA ENCIKLOPEDIJA) vol. 1 & 2, and online Macedonian dictionaries (idividi.com, etc.). The sources that were used are listed in the References at the end of this essay.

Table of contents: Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 Ancient Upper Macedonia â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Paionia -------------------------------------------------------------- 7 Paionian macedonians in the army of Macedon ------------------------------------------------ 15 Paionia under Roman occupation ---------------------------------------------------------------- 20 Archaeological Paionia ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23 References -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29

Like the Carthaginians and the Spartans, the Macedonians are among the silent people of the ancient Mediterranean basin. Almost everything that we know about them derives from the written accounts of others, and â&#x20AC;&#x201C; as in the case of the Carthaginians and the Spartans â&#x20AC;&#x201C; those written accounts were either not well-informed or they were hostile, and occasional - E. N. Borza

Introduction Until 20 years ago ancient Paionian communities were known only from the facts based exclusively on the records of the ancient authors. Needless to say that in the past centuries there were numerous politic and other obstacles of the precise describing and determining Macedonia as a geographic entity and in defining Macedonia‟s borders to its neighbors, let alone in defining Macedonian ethnic identity on the basis of a cultural geography of ancient Macedonic tribes. Passages in the works of leading ancient geographers also show their difficulties in describing this historical process. The very few known historical facts were that they are one of the oldest and most developed ancient communities in the central and northern part of the Macedonic world, their homeland was mainly along the valley of river Vardar (lat. Bardarios or Axius - the 'axis river')1, and whose troops were involved in the defense of Ilion (lat. Troy) against Danaan/Achaean invaders in the Ilion War, and later in the campaigns of Alexander III of Macedon. They are known to be the first who began with coins minting and were politically organized, and that their rulers have been crowned with ritual bathing in the river Ašteeboo (lat. Astibos, modern Bregalnitsa), one of the Vardar tributaries. Their immediate neighbors and closest kin were the Macedonian Brigii (i.e. Brygians/Phrygians) and Penesti on the west, Agrianians (i.e. Agrianes) to the north, and Laiai and Maedoi on the east. In book 4, Erodot (lat. Herodotus) distinguishes between three different warring parties in the Peloponnesian War of the V century BCE: the Peloponnesian city-states (Athens, Thebes, Sparta, etc.), the Gaul/Illyrian barbarians and the Macedonians, whom he judges at least in one passage to be neither part of the city-states world nor barbarians. On the grounds of these ancient testimonies the new scholarly emphasis on Macedonia developed. Supported in part from the many linguistic and genealogical researches, and in part from the new archaeological finds that are revealed almost on a daily basis. Much of our new appreciation of ancient Macedonic culture and society came from the numerous recently excavated tombs of prominent Macedonians dating from the remote ancient times, but also from the modern DNA-genealogical and linguistic researches that also made a remarkable progress. These latest studies together with the fieldwork helped notably to our understanding of the ancient Macedonic populations in Upper Macedonia, i.e. Paionia. They recount the prehistoric relations between ancient communities and track down their chronological and spacial coordinates with its sketchy borders. More precise notion about Paionia and Paionians was given by Hesychius (5th- 6th century AD). His notion of Παιονία („small‟, i.e. „core‟ land) in the north of Μακεδονία (*Make-gdon „great land‟, cf. Μακετία „Macedonia‟) pointed to latter as a result of colonization by Paionians. Athenaeus (2nd-3rd century AD) also suggests that the Mysian language was akin to the barely attested Paionian language of Paionia, north of Macedon. So, Proto-Macedonic-Paionians moved southward from Paionia to Macedonia, cf. similar phonetic features of Paionian and Macedonian. Upper Macedonia, the original cradle of the Macedonian ethnos, where the kome (small town or village) remained the basic unit of local government until well into Roman times, was the true Borean (hence Hyperborean) ancestral homeland of the Macedonians. They gave the initial impulse to the development and spread of the 5/4th millennium settlements in the regions of Aegean and lower Danube, and further in the 3/2nd millennium toward today Ukraine/Russia and as far as India (as 'Aryans'), and to Central-Western Europe (as Etrusci, Veneti and/or 'Gaul')2, as 1

Since in the Latin there‟s no other etymological sense linked to this name, it is the only plausible explanation of the Interpretatio Latina of the earlier Koine term Axos (ἄξος) - tree or timber, which explains perfectly the widely known status of the ancient Macedonian kingdom as the primary supplier of the Aegean coastal cities with the ship-building material, i.e. wood. Hence the corrupted KoineLatin name of Axius for the river Vardar (or „Bardarios‟).

Other nations also claimed their Macedonic roots. The Saxons trace their origin to Macedonia and 5

well as in Asia Minor (Mushki and Phrygians) in the 2/1st millennium BCE. During their prehistoric movements these Pre-Aryan-Pelasgo-Macedonic ancestors brought with them their culture and contributed to the creation and development of the early Indo-European centers in antiquity.3 It has been convincingly demonstrated that the kingdom of Macedonia, as well as the later Roman Provincia Macedonia, essentially remained a clearly distinguished political (or a military) concept. While from a geographical point of view it was almost permanently a changing entity with yielding borders, but roughly north of Mt. Olymp (lat. Olympus), limited by the Shar (lat. Scardus) mountain range on the northwest, and by the river Mesta and Rhodope Mountains on the east. The center northern frontier was never clearly distinguished, because trespassed by the most frequented known ancient corridor – the rivers Vardar-Morava valley road, that is linked to the Danube junction on the north, and from there further northwest to the Amber Road and eastward to the Black Sea and the Trypole (today Moldavia and Ukraine). Nevertheless, recently discovered inscriptions on the stone stela‟s in villages of Jegunovce, Gradec, Čelopek, Lešok, and in the city of Tetovo, undoubtedly confirmed the Macedonian dominion in these territories. As a result of the progressive expansion of early Macedonians during the so-called „archaic‟ period, all the other regional Macedonic tribes later fused together into a larger Macedonian unit. At the beginning the Orestians (Mkd. Gorani; Eng. highlanders)4 from Argo (Argora), in western Lower Macedonia (today Kostur-Klisoura region in Aegean Macedonia), together with other neighboring Macedonic tribes living in Eordaia, Elimeia (Kožani and Grevena), northern Timfaia (Hasia), Lynkestia, Desaretia (Lerin-Prespa-Ohrid region), Elimiotia, Pelagonia and Paionia (i.e. Upper Macedonia) began to form the Macedonian state, the first entity of that kind and scale on the European soil. As from the late sixth century, after suffering a heavy defeat from Persians in the Macedonian region of Paionia, Macedonia became a vassal state under Achaemenids until 479 BCE. During the Great Persian War of 480–479 BCE Macedonia became an appendage and tributary of the Persian empire, and the Macedonian troops had fought alongside those of Persia. This old Macedon-Persian symbiosis remained very alive in the fourth century BCE during the Macedonian campaign in Asia - Alexander‟s own prayer at Opis in 324 BCE clearly decrees the established coalition between the two ruling classes of Europe and Asia: Macedonians and Persians.

Alexander the Great, as survivors of Alexander the Great's army (the tribes of Lutići and Bodrići/Obodriti) who fled the conquered lands after the fall of their Macedonic empire under Roman occupation. Martin Luther (1483-1546) descended from the Macedonic stock of the tribe of Lutići. His original ancestral name was Lyut (meaning harsh, angry in plain Macedonian).* His predecessors were forced to Germanize their name to Lutyr, then Luthyr, and finally to Luther. Born in Lower Saxony in a place which is today called Einsleben, earlier known by its Macedonic name, Šibenica, which is retained even today in the name of the 'old town' district called Siebenhitze. By a different genealogical route, the Šwabians also claimed their Macedonian origin. * Luta, the war-goddess of Macedonians as mentioned by Homer. Meaning „furious‟ in plain Macedonian. 3 Lepenski Vir, Vinča, Kukuteni-Tripole, Sintašta, etc. 4 Orestia – „highland‟, „mountain forested highland‟, a region in Lower Macedonia; from archaic "oro/ore", modern Macedonian: „Gora‟ [from „gore‟ - upstairs] – mountain, 'highland'; Transcended into modern Macedonian "orman" and 'Gora' – both terms with meaning of „forested highland/mountain‟, adverbial: „forest‟. Thus from 'Gora' - 'Gorani' - highlanders; also as personal name „Goran‟. Other examples: Orography - the branch of physical geography dealing with mountains; Orogenesis - a geological process of forming a mountain range; "orangery" – „green house; "orang-utan" – „forest person‟. 6

Ancient Upper Macedonia – Paionia Yъntsi [y:ntsi; plural]5 - 'calfs', still in use as 'Yuntsi' (Cyrillic: Јунци) – 'calfs, youthful' in all

Macedonic languages. This same word finds its exactly same resemblance in modern English word 'young(sters)' and German 'jung', with the same meaning – 'junior', 'juvenile' (lat. juvenis); also in 'junoesque' [adjective] – a (tall) young woman. It's the archaic Macedonian etymology of the name for the ancient country of Paionia (lat. Paeonia)6, i.e. Upper-Ionia, or 'Pa-Iьn-IA' in plain Macedonian: 'Upper-Junior's-Land' (where actially „IA“ stands for 'land', as in England), along the river Vardar valley, in what was also known in antiquity as 'Upper Macedonia'. According to many ancient sources it is one and the same. For example, Polybius tells us that the earlier name of Macedonia was "Emathia, formerly called Paionia."7 This ethnonym is also the only plausible explanation why Persians called the people across the Bosphorus and all the Aegean region 'Yauna', or why these most ancient inhabitants (that later colonised whole Asia Minor) are called 'Ionians' by the historians. At the end, we have the topographical homonyms of the Ionian Sea on the west, Ionian Coast on the east, and in the middle Upper Ionia (i.e. Paionia). It will be very hard to believe that this is a mere coincidence:

Pausanias told us that Paion, the eponymous ancestor of the Paionians, was a brother of Epeios and Aitolos, the eponymous ancestors of the Epeians of Elis and the Aietolians. Livy says that Paionia was once the general name of Macedonia. Strabo tells us that the Paionians once inhabited a territory that extended as far as Pelagonia (the area around Bitola) and coastal Pieria east of the river Struma, and included much of what was later Macedonia. The Paionian tribes were: Agrianes (Agriani or Agrii), Almopians, Laeaeans (or Laiai or Lææanes), Derrones, Odomanti (or Odomantes Paeoplae), Doberoi, Paionians and Siropaionians. Pliny describes the Paraxiaei, Aerdoeans, 5

Yunets/Yъnets – calf, youngster in Macedonic; with hard-accented silent vocal (ъ), like in 'earth'. 'Pa' – upper. Examples: Papa (eng. the pope) - „highness-highness‟; Palace (from lat. Palatium) – upthere-is, i.e. the Palatine hill of the emperor in Rome; Pataphysics [plural, noun] – „over-metaphysic‟, Patagon – tall inhabitants of Patagonia; 'ion/iьn' – young; and 'ia' – land. Examples: Croatia, Romania, Russia, etc.; comparable to -stan (Bulgaristan, Yunanistan, Pakistan, etc.) or -land (Holland, England, etc.). 7 Polybius 23.10. "Philip's Desperate Measures" 6

Almopians, Pelagones and Mygdonians as Paionian tribes too.8 The original ancient Macedonian genus emerged some 3 millenniums ago from the elements of a Mediterranean prediluvian substratum of Pelasgians/Aeols/Boreans and/or Hyperboreans9, to which prehistoric family all these Macedonic tribes belong. Their oldest urban settlements (Govrlevo, Porodin, etc.) are found precisely in what is today Republic of Macedonia, dating 6500 BCE. They were the first farmers known to history, that contributed to the creation of archetypical Macedonic cultures in the second millennium BCE in the central regions of Macedonian peninsula (Anti, Eneti, Berziti, Brygi, Danuni, Kiti, Lapiti, Macedoni, Minii, Misiani, Mosiniki, Paioni, Pelasgi, Penesti, Teucri, Trojans, etc.)10, and Hittite/Phrygians in Asia Minor. The recent researches (iGENEA 2010) showed that the Genetic pool of today‟s Macedonians still contains 30-40% of the original Proto-Macedonic genus of their ancestors.11

Above: Upper and Lower Macedonia (separated roughly with green-dashed line) around 360 BCE. The borders in yellow represents the general Geographic outlines of the wider Macedonian territory. There's not precise known limit on its northern area, which in the times of Filip II and Alexander III of Macedon reached as far as the Danube river. The 8

Pliny “Natural History” IV, 10, 35. In Macedonic mythology, Boreas*, was the god of the North Wind of river Vardar, who had a serpentshaped tail. The house of Boreas was located north of the river Struma (lat. Strymon) and his protector was Ophion (mkd. Afion, now name for a poppy). In Macedonia the north wind is the strongest of all winds and blows across the Hema (lat. Haemus, turk. Balkan) mountain range and along the Strumon and Vardar valleys, causing storms in the Aegean Sea. * Bura [boŏrah] – „storm‟ in plain Macedonian. 10 Old Europe - M. Gimbutas 11 National Geographic and A. A. Klyosov genetic researches conducted in 2005; Swiss iGENEA genetic research conducted in 2009. 9

whole region range and the limits of different Macedonic kingdoms within also varied during the passing millennia

The extension of the Paionian borders in the ancient times variated frequently due to internal disputes and quarels within different Macedonian factions, as well as numerous foreign invasions and barbaric intrusions. Consequently, among the territories that the Paionians held were: Emathia, Krestonia, Mygdonia, Pelagonia, Pieria, and at some extent the land of the Agrianians as far as Mt. Pangaion. However, the core of the ancient Paionia, or Pa-Iъn-IA, was roughly where now is the central section of the Republic of Macedonia, which by the way, is the only part of the whole region of Macedonia that forms the independent Macedonian state today. The other larger parts of Macedonia (Pirin and Aegean Macedonia, as well as the region of Pustec and Pogradec west of the Lake Ohrid) undergone numerous invasions since the Roman times, and are until now under foreign occupation. The most northern known cities of Paionia were Belazora (near Veles), Stoboi, and Skuopoi (lat. Scupi, today modern Skopje), even if their cultural presence intersected the Agrianian territory (Polog/KosovoPole/SouthMorava/Kumanovo/KrivaPalanka/Sofia), and is testified as far north as the Grdelica Gorge and аrchaeological site „Kale‟ at Krševica in today „Serbia‟. Recently a Paionian graveyard was discovered under the ruins of the Roman acropolis Scupi on the outskirts of modern Macedonian capital Skopje, thus confirming without any doubt its pre-Roman Macedonic character. On the east was their important town of Ašteebo (lat. Astibus)12, mentioned in the famous Pevtinger table. On the banks of the homonymous tributary of river Vardar, Ašteebo (today Bregalnitsa), the Paionian kings took a ritual bath at the time of their coronation. The name of the river and the eponymous city reflects their unmistakable Macedonic character. Antigona was in the center toward south13, and the cities of Gortinia, Atalantia and Amydon were on their southern flank, with the city of Ichnai as far south as the Thermaic gulf, where they intermingled with other Macedonian regions from the Lower Macedonia. Thukydides regards even the region of Macedonian capital Bela (lat. Pella)14 as Paionian. Even today there's many Paionian toponyms and archaeological sites, as well as the Municipality of Paionia in the Greek-occupied Macedonian territories in northern Greece.

Today city of Štip in the eastern part of Republic of Macedonia. Today city of Negotino in the river Vardar valley, Republic of Macedonia. 14 Voicing Assimilation. The /b/ and /p/ are identical in pronunciation (both are bilabial stops), differing only in their Voice-parameter; /b/ is Voiced, while /p/ is Voiceless (example: describe/description). In Russian, for example, it's Regressive Assimilation - the Voice parameter of the final consonant in a cluster becomes the parameter of the whole cluster. So the Russian preposition в (v), meaning 'in', is pronounced /f/ when its object starts with a voiceless consonant (example: v‟hotele is pronounced /f‟hotele/) 13

Above: Municipality of Paionia in Macedonian part of northern Greece, and archaeological site Toumba Paionias near Axiochori, in the furthest south of the valley of river Vardar close to Thermaic Gulf.15

Even Mt. Mesapion was also noted as the place where the Paionians hunted wild bisons. 15

Ole Christian Aslaksen, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Global and local in Late Bronze Age Central Macedonia. Economy, mobility and identityâ&#x20AC;?, p.63. Gothenburg University. 10

The Macedonian towns in Paionia were developed centers already in the Bronze Age. They already had a developed infrastructure at the beginning of the Iron Age, and later in the so-called „Archaic‟ period, and during the early empire in Macedonia (Alexander I, 498-454 BCE). Also, it is worth mentioning the city of Tranupara16, the famous minting center in Upper Macedonia. Even more figurative and appealing is the name of yet another ancient town, on the road between Ašteebo and Tranupara, which was Zapara, literally 'for-the-money' (i.e 'toward-money', 'on the road to money'). On the west they bordered with their kin Brygians and Almopians, on the north with the Agrianians, and on the east with Laiai, Doberoi and Maedoi. Different ancient sources and modern scholars define them as Paionian-Macedonic tribes. Thus at the end of the 6th century we know of Almopians, Brygians, Paionians, Siropaionians, Paioplai, Doberoi and Agrianes, and Thucydides adds the Laiai. In the times previous to Persian invasion in the 5th century BCE, at the height of their power, Paionian kingdoms held large parts of Thrace, whole Migdonia and Krestonia, and even the territories in Asia Minor.17 According to the Assyrian records this Anatolian district of Paionian kingdom was inhabited by the people of Mushki18 as from 700 BCE.19 And as we know from the testimony of Erodot (lat. Herodotus) and from other ancient sources, the origins of the Phrygian tribe Mushki and king Mydas are to be found among the Macedonic community of Brygians, the closest neighbors and kin of Paionian Macedonians from northern Pelagonia. These Brygo-Paionian settlers in Asia Minor even founded cities which resembled the names of the cities from their ancestral Macedonian homeland: Bela, Ber (lat. Beroeia), Voden (lat. Eddessa), etc. E. Petrova notes that: "The central Balkan region, especially its south-western section, is the territory of an Early Bronze Age population from which the Proto-Brygian ethnic community later developed […] This Proto-Brygian ethnic population who are mentioned in the works of the ancient period, later spread over the major part of southern and south-eastern Albania, north-western Greece, Pelagonia and Lower Macedonia." Polish linguist and historian W. Payakovsky utterly confirmed these relation to the Proto-Brygians through the closeness of Paionian and Phrygian language. This was also confirmed by the names on the territory of northern Macedonia that are neither Thracian nor Gaul/Illyrian. The earliest written memory of Paionia and Paionians however, is probably the one in Homer's Iliad, the epic story of Ilion (lat. Troy) War, in which „the Paionians with curved bows“ from Amydon, Paionian capital in the lower reaches of river Vardar, fought against the Danaans/Achaeans on the side of king Priam. Homer‟s Paionians controlled a great swath of territory to either side of the „Broad Axios“ or Bardarios (today river Vardar), much of which they were to lose in the 6th and 5th centuries due to the Persian invasion under rule of Achaemenid dynasty. Homer also mentions the Paionian chelniks20 Pirem (lat. Pyraehmes) and Asterop, son of the king Pelagon.

Tranupara [exclamative] – 'Of the coins' in plain Macedonian, 'minting place'. From Para – 'coin', a basic unit of the Macedonian coinage; 1 Denar = 100 pari, a monetary unit used in Macedonia, BiH, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia, equal to one hundredth of a Dinar. Also a common noun for 'money' in all Macedonic languages: pari/pare [plural]. 17 W.A. Heurtley, 'Prehistoric Macedonia: An Archaeological Reconnaissance of Macedonia (West of Struma) in the Neolithic, Bronze and Early Iron Ages' (Cambridge, 1939), pp. 125,126,128. 18

Mushki – „manly‟,vigorous in plain Macedonian. Also endurable or strong: Zapni mushki – „push hard‟. 19 See 'The Funerary Banquet of King Midas' by Patrick E. McGovern. 20 Čelnik [Tshelnik; noun] - which translates in English as „foremost‟ i.e. „leader‟ is a very interesting case. The British historian Hammond mentioned its etymology and said that the word "Tshelniku" in the ancient Macedonian language had a meaning of "leader of a group". Proof of this is yet another entry, of the Romeian chronicle-writer Kekavmen, where he described the events surrounding the uprising of Petar Deljan against Konstantinopolitana Nova Roma (eng. Constantinople) in 11th century. He wrote that in 11

Above: Paionian kingdom in 13-12th century BCE according to Homer

the language of the (Macedonian) rebels "the strategist is called Tchelnik"; from Čelo [tshelo] – „forehead‟ in plain Macedonian; and „-nik‟ – noun suffix, „one connected with or characterized by…‟. 12

Below: Paionian kingdom in the 7-6 century BCE

Further, Pelagonâ&#x20AC;&#x; name resembles pure Macedonian etymology and it is the ethnonym for Pelagonian plain in Upper Macedonia, also a homeland of Macedonian Bryges or Brygians. Thus the Paionians in different ancient sources are also reported as Pelagonians and/or Brygians. This sources show the intricate network of ancestral Macedonic relations which were very closely related and often evidenced as one and the same. Appian mentions them too, as "different from Hellenes,"21 Homer, Erodot (Lat. Herodotus) and Strabo noted that the Paionian people are the Trojans relatives. 21

Appian Ill. IV.6 13

After 479 BCE, weakened by the Persian occupation they gradually re-entered again the sphere of the larger Macedonian union as equal among others. One of the Paionian chelniks („chieftains‟) from that period whose name arrived to us, Agis, died in 359/358 BCE, in the time when the young Filip II of Macedon was asserting his control over whole Macedonia. It‟s noted that before the dead of his brother Perdika (lat. Perdicas) Filip expanded notably the Macedonian army by recruiting and drilling local landlords and peasants into territorial regiments commanded by royal officers precisely in the Paionian region, where he was assigned as governor. Symnon who was the ruler in Paionia from 348 to 336 BCE was a great ally of Filip. Thus, during the first half of the fourth century BCE, after the death of the rebel king Agis, Paionia was once more incorporated in the larger Macedonian state by Filip II of Macedon. By 349 BCE, as epigraphic and literary evidence makes it clear, Paionia was one of the several Macedonic kingdoms subject to the burgeoning Macedonian empire. In 344 BCE Filip swept the region of the upper Black Drim valley and made war on the Gaul/Illyrian Ardiaioi22 (invaders from the upper reaches of the Narenta river), to reinforce earlier Macedonian possessions. Upper and Lower Macedonia were united again.23 Alexander himself retired somewhere in this region when fleeing from Bela (lat. Pella) with his mother, after the quarrel he had with his father on Filip‟s last (seventh) marriage to Cleopatra, the niece of Attalus in 337 BCE. Since Alexander through his father Filip II, and possibly through his mother had relatives in Upper Macedonia, he probably sought refuge within a part of his „extended‟ family. Hammond makes the assertion that Paionia was annexed directly within the Macedonian commonwealth. On that occasion the Macedonian Army was notably strengthened with numerous and excellent Paionian cavalry. When Alexander III of Macedon launched his campaign on Persia, the Macedonian Army departed from Amfipolion (lat. Amfipolis) in Lower Macedonia, where it gathered with Paionian, Brygian and Agrianian units from Upper Macedonia. At Ašteebo (lat. Astibus), one of the most ancient and holy-cultural Macedonic centers, comparable to Dion and the isle of Samothrace, they made the Macedonic ritual dog-sacrifice to army, and departed toward Asia. So, there‟s no question that the Paionians, together with northern Agrianians, Brygians, Maedoi and Laiai, belonged to the larger group of Macedonic tribes from Upper Macedonia. Nevertheless, tribes from Upper Macedonia (Agriania, Brygia, Paionia, Pelagonia and Lynkestia), as closest kin to those from Lower Macedonia, always used to retain a certain measure of independence, due to their relevance and pride, and also because of the relative weakness of the Argead dynasty in those parts of Macedonian Peninsula. On their side Argeads were also in many ways dependent on the relations with Paionian and other Macedonian communities.24 Thukydides defines them "allies and subjects", in an attempt to describe the hardly definable and constantly changing relations in the broader family of Macedonic people. As cruelest evidence to this claim can be pointed out the Filip II mother Evridika (lat. Eurydice) from Lynkestia.25 The only plausible conclusion from all these ancient testimonies and sources is that the Paionian tribes and comunities were distinctly Macedonic in their whole. They also reaffirm this fact by mentioning the typical Macedonic territorial organizing through kome (small town), which remained the basic unit of local government throughout the Macedonian realm, on contrary to the more southern Danaan/Achaean slavery-“democratic” city states from Peloponnesus. 22

Diodorus 16.69.7, Trogus Prologue 8. This was due to the Filip‟s previous position as appointed Chelnik in Upper Macedonia, i.e. Paionia, during the rule of his father king Aminta and his brother Perdika II. He was noted as ruler of Pelagonia, Gortinia, and as far as the river Struma (lat. Strymon). He used this mandate in Paionia for training and equipping his new army that will be the backbone of his future Macedonian empire. 24 Filip II of Macedon‟ mother-queen Evridika (lat. Eurydice) was from Upper Macedonia too (Lynkestia). 25 Historians accuse her of murdering Filip's father, the king Amynta III, as well as Filip's sister and older brother Alexander II. After escaping back to her native Lynkestia she instigated a rebelion against her last son, the newly crowned Filip II of Macedon. Knowing how dangerous his mother is, Filip captured and executed her. 23

Paionian macedonians in the army of macedon As mentioned above, Paionians participated in the Ilion War on the side of Trojans of king Priam (lat. Priamus). Homer's brief reference also explains this link between the Trojans and Brygians/Phrygians in the 12th century BCE through the youthful feats of Priam, who aided the Phrygians (i.e. Paionians) in their battles against the Amazons. In the passage of the â&#x20AC;&#x17E;Catalogue of the shipsâ&#x20AC;&#x; and elsewhere in the Iliad we learn that the Paionians came in help of Ilion from the city of Amydon, on the banks of river Vardar. The lower basin of the Vardar River in the time of Homer was part of the Paionian kingdom, with its most important city of Amydon. Thus, from the ancient sources it can be concluded that at the time of the composition of Iliad, Paionians controlled the territory which comprised parts of Lower Macedonia, the heartland of the Macedonian Kingdom. Then we learn from Herodotus that at some time before 510 the Paionians attacked the city of Perinth on the Marmara Sea. Other authors report their incursions as far as Asia Minor. But this can easily be a presumption related to the Brygian migration (which anyway were Paionians closest neighbors and kin). From this and other sources we also learn that the Paionian Macedonians held large parts of Thrace as well.

Ancient sources noted that Langar (lat. Langarus; died 335 BCE), king of the Agrianians26, the most northern habitants of Paionian Macedonia, was a contemporary of Alexander III of 26

Agriani/Agrianes, another Macedonic tribe from Upper Macedonia, closely related to Paionian Macedonians. 15

Macedon, with whom he ingratiated himself even before the death of Filip II of Macedon. His realm comprised of today Kosovo Pole, South Morava and Polog valley, Skopje, Kumanovo, Kriva Palanka27, Sredec (today Sofia) and Pautalia (today Kyustendil). Langar rendered important services to Alexander during his expedition against the Gaul/Illyrians and Taulantii shortly after his accession, when the Autariates from northwest (in what is today Sandžak and Bosnia) were preparing to attack by surprise the Macedonians on their march. Langar, following the tradition of loyalty toward the ancestral Macedonic coalition, invaded their territory, preventing them from carrying their vicious attack into effect.

Above: The territory of Paionians and Agrianians (rounded in red) – northernmost guardians of the Macedonian realm in the 6-5th century BCE according to dr. Victoria Sokolovska

The Roman historian Quintus Curtius Rufus in his „History of Alexander‟ tells us about the link between the Macedonians from Paionia in the Macedonian campaign in Persia. The example is one well documented episode involving one of the Alexander‟s auxiliary units of Paionian cavalry. The single Paionian ile28 under the command of a certain Ariston, a noted member of the Macedonian ruling house from Paionia, was 150-200 strong when they crossed to Asia in 334 BCE. They appear to have served principally as a light reconnaissance unit, and occupied a position on the Alexander‟s right flank at the pitched battles at the Granik (lat. Granicus), Iss (lat. Issus) and Gaugamela, in close proximity to the Macedonian king and his companions. Following Alexander‟s crossing of the 27 28

Latin: Curved Phalanx Ile or ilai [military; Macedonic] - light detachment, reconnaissance company; adjective Maced., informal: daring, balky. 16

river Tigris in 331, the disordered Macedonian van was attacked by a one-thousand strong contingent of Persian cavalry led by (the otherwise unknown) Satropat. Alexander ordered Ariston and his ile to charge the Persians at full speed, and the latter broke in disarray and fled. The valiant charge of the Macedonians from the royal house of Paion was praised highly, particularly the actions of Ariston who slew the Persian commander personally. Satropat (lat. Satropates) was wounded in the throat before being unhorsed and decapitated, his head presented by Ariston to Alexander amid great applause. At that point, the narrative was picked up by Plutarch who maintained that when Ariston presented the head to Alexander he stated - 'In my homeland, O King, such a gift is rewarded with a golden cup.' - 'Yes', replied a laughing Alexander, 'an empty one; but I will pledge your health with one which is full of neat wine.'

Above: Artistic illustration of the member of Macedonian cavalry from Paionia (Upper Macedonia)

After the general weakening of the Macedonian empire due to Succession Wars Paionia separates from the rest of Macedonia under the king Avdoleon, son of Patraos. Avdoleon is probably the most famous Paionian king, partly because of his role in the forging of money, and partly because of the legend that recounts how he escaped from the ceremony of his coronation (which included the bathing in the waters of river Bregalnitsa, Vardar tributary). Avdoleon renewed his Paionian kingdom in Upper Macedonia, and ancient sources mention that in 310 BCE he received military assistance from his cousins in Lower Macedonia in yet another campaign against northwestern Gaul/Illyrians. He too was following the tradition of his grand-grandfathers and was loyal to the ancestral Macedonian union as an ally to Kassander, son of Antipater. Avdoleon managed to expand his territory by annexation of the Agrianian territory, which became part of his kingdom. The last king from ancient Macedonic kingdom of Paionia known to historians was Dropion (250230 BCE), son of Leon of Paionia. He was noted by Pausanias when he gifted in Delphi a trophy of 17

the famous Paionian bisons (called Volinos), which were still a hunting prey in the Macedonian peninsula in the 3rd century BCE: "A bronze head of the Paionian bull called the bison was sent to Delphi by the Paionian king Dropion, son of Leon". After Dropion Paionia was governed by a local royal Macedonian officer called Didas. Roman destructive impact on the Adriatic coast in Dalmatia and Matia (or Matâ&#x20AC;&#x;, today northern Albania) in the third and second centuries BCE triggered the migrations of various tribes, and the lands of Paionian Macedonians were more frequently ravaged by the wagging barbaric tribes from north and northwest. During the Second Macedonian War the Gaul/Illyrians and Tribalians advancing from the northwest, under command of the Gaul/Illyrian chieftain Bato, created major disruption in Macedonia. On the account of the Romans, with whom he allied, on 199 BCE Bato backstabbed from north the Macedonians, with whose royal dynasty he was closely related. 29

Above: Artistic, rather romanticist, illustration of the Gaul-Illyrian "Hairwrapped" warriors from the later antiquity. The second from the left on his head wears the classical bronze "Priest-helmet" (so-called "Etruscan"), an insignia of the chieftains and commonly used as the ceremonial helmet in the Theocratic rituals and Shamanic traditions known throughout all the Macedonic-Etruscan-Gaul-Illyrian-Venetic world.

Other famous Macedonic dynasty from Upper Macedonia - Paionia, were the Antigons (or Antigonids). The founder of this dynasty, Antigon I the 'One-Eyed'30 (lat. Antigonus I Monophthalmus), the high rank general in the army of Filip II of Macedon, and later of his son Alexander III of Macedon, was from Elimeia in Upper Macedonia (i.e. Paionia). In 333 BCE he was 29

Atenagor (lat. Athenagoras), Macedonian general of Filip V and Persej (lat. Perseus) had a difficult time against Bato. But later, Batoâ&#x20AC;&#x;s brother Monunius I helmet was found in Ohrid with an inscription in New Macedonic uncial koine, and silver coins bearing both the king's and Macedonian symbols that indicates the Monunius inspirations for Macedonia.

His name being a endearname of the city Antigona or viceversa. 18

appointed governor of Greater Phrygia. As part of the division of provinces after Alexander's death in 323 BCE, Antigon I received Pamphylia and Lycia from the appointed regent of the empire, Perdika (lat. Perdiccas), at the partition in Babylon. His nephew Antigon II Gonat (lat. Antigonus II Gonatus) , after strugling together with Antioch (lat. Antiochus) in Macedonian Asia Minor, will regain control over the European Macedonia, and reign until his death in 239 BCE. Some sources claim that he's to be the founder of the city of Antigona (or Antigoneia) on the shores of river Vardar in Paionian Macedonia, other that actually this dynasty took the name from the city. However, Antigon III Doson initially defeated the invading Dardanian tribes and regained control over Macedoniaâ&#x20AC;&#x;s northern border (Justin 28.3.14). But, he had to return there immediately after the Battle of Sellasia in 222 BCE upon word that new wave of Gaul/Illyrians had invaded Macedonia. Antigon III Doson defeated them too, but died soon thereafter in 221 BCE. His death saw Aetolian League making their presence felt again. These skirmishers even managed to cut out and captured a few Macedonian warships at Cythera, an island off the southern coast of Laconia. But, they did not anticipate an early response from Filip V. The young Filip V of Macedon was involved in military campaign against the invading Bastarnai and Dardanians in Upper Macedonia in 220 BCE, and again in 217 BCE, when he commanded military expeditions on the northern borders of Macedonia.31 He also restrained the Aetolian Laegue, which extended its influence using the Macedonian internal strife. His general Taurion, with a task force of Macedonians under arms was sent in advance, and when Filip V finally arrived in force Aetolians rushed for their lives and were deposed. But, they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x;t learn the lesson and rebelled again. This time the main response was coming inevitably: Macedonian young king certainly had a reputation to build, and he possessed considerable talent to do it. Filip V back at Macedonian capital Bella mobilized a considerable army for the war. He had 10,000 strong falankas, 1000 horsemen, and 5,000 peltasts. These peltasts were clearly elite troops who often worked in difficult terrain in tandem with light infantry. He led them over the Pindus Mountains and into Epirus, a route that took him towards the heart of his enemyâ&#x20AC;&#x;s power, and it meant he could pick up a considerable Epirote army on the road. Indeed, when he left to commence the offensive he had more than 20,000 men, suggesting that a strong Epirote levy of at least 5,000 men had joined up as well. With such a considerable invasion army, little time was lost in hitting the main enemy. Finally, near Philous the rebellion concluded in a battle, where about 1,200 Aetolians were taken as prisoners, the number of perished or escaped remains unknown. After eliminating Aetolian league Filip moved against his enemies at Phigaleia. The defenders there had been reinforced by 600 routed Aetolians, 500 mercenaries, and 1,000 of the Elean levy and an indeterminate number of Tarentines. Determined Macedonian assaults soon took the town, and the garrison, after fleeing to the citadel, arranged surrender as long as their lives were spared. Yet another recorded episode from Upper Macedonia worth mentioning is the military campaign of king Perseus in the first half of the 2nd century BCE, during the Third Macedonian War with Rome (171-168 BCE).32 Romans succeeded in occupying the western Macedonian city of Uscana. In the winter of 170/169 BCE King Persei responded by moving with his army from Stubera (today Chepigovo) in Pelagonia toward the region of Penestia in westernmost Upper Macedonia, in order to put-down the Roman occupation of the city of Uscana. The combined force of 4000 Roman soldiers and 500 Gaul/Illyrian tribesmen were no mach for the Macedonian Army of 10,000 Falanka (lat. Phalanx) infantry, 2000 light infantry and 500 Macedonian Royal Companions cavalry. After short and futile resistence Romans negotiated but disarmed retreat, while the Gaul/Illyrian marauders were captured and sold as slaves. The Macedonian stronghold of Uscana was restored and city was additionally fortified by Persei.

31 32

Polybius 5.97.2 Titus Lyvius "History of Rome" 19

Paionia under Roman occupation After the fall of the Macedonian empire in 169 BCE followed a large exodus of the Macedonic and other communities in front of the Roman invasion that brought unprecedented terror and plunder. Macedonian monarchy was abolished and its enormous riches transported to Italy. What followed was a period of waste destruction and calamity for the whole Macedonia. For example - in the time immediately after the Roman occupation from ancient sources we have verification of some 100 cities in Macedonia, which number in the late empire dropped to only 30. This sole fact clearly shows the magnitude of brutal harassment and oppression to which was subdued whole Macedonian Peninsula. Four separated republics were founded, each forbidden to hold any official political or even social contact with the others. But, the direct Roman administration in Macedonia was actually established only as from the 148 BCE. And even a new calendar reckoning was introduced then. The Macedonians became subjects of Rome, and their further history was determined by the occupying power of Rome. What was not destroyed in the wars was then largely looted, with extraordinary thoroughness by the Romans. Suffering a large depopulation, provoked by three centuries of almost incesant wars, then after followed by Roman occupation - the independent Paionian kingdom disappeared from the history as well. The strategic importance of Paionia and wider Macedonian region was more than obvious to Romans. Broadly speaking this can be seen by the Roman armies, which at all times were steadily concentrated on the three cardinal points of the empire: on the north (along the upper Danube basin), in order to cope with the Gaul/Germanic barbaric tribes; another in the Macedonian Peninsula northeast border (i.e. lower Danube basin), in order to watch the frontier against the invading Goths and Avars from northeast; and a third in the northern Mesopotamia (covering the east).

When Polybius, Livy, Strabo and Pausanias wrote about the Paionian Macedonians, they recount of a legendary people. And when Ptolemy composed his Geography in the second century AD, he noted the cities of Paionia.33 Later, under the Roman occupation, Paionia around the river Vardar formed the second and third districts respectively of the Roman province of Macedonia. In the 2nd to 1st centuries BCE, the Romans, appropriated, selectively adopted and imitated Macedonian culture, especially the court art of the Antigonid monarchy. There is scant evidence, however, for the reverse, that is, for the Romanization of Macedonia at this time. Macedonians by contrast did not choose to emulate the styles of their Roman antagonists and tyrants. They largely adhered to traditional forms in depicting their gods, adorning the living and burying the dead. Centuries later, under Diocletian, Paionia and Pelagonia formed a province called Macedonia Secunda (or Macedonia Salutaris), as part of the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum.

http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/01/2011/bylazora-the-last-redoubt-of-thepaionians 21

Archaeological Paionia The funeral ritual is one of the most important elements of religion, as the language is the most important element in the definition of ethnicity. The religious artifacts not only testify the uniqueness of Macedonic beliefs (mostly associated with the cult of the Sun), but also the Paionian regional economic power, metallurgical knowledge, and extremely high aesthetic criteria. Large amount of the unearthed findings from the Paionian graves in Macedonia offered valuable retrospective of ancient Macedonic culture. Already in the early Bronze Age there was a distinctive Macedonic style in bronzes, ceramics (Paionian gray pottery), Macedonic way of burial and religion.34 The recent excavations of the Paionian graveyard near Skopje gave the further confirmation of their Macedonic origin. Among the artifacts from the grave discovered under the foundations of the ancient theatre in the later Roman acropolis Scupi, beside the other remains – a bronze Sun-disc of Macedonic type was found in a ceramic jar. There is a reference to this symbol by Maximus of Tyre35, a rhetorician and philosopher from the 2nd century BCE, who stated that Paionians worshipped the sun in the shape of a small disc attached to a long staff (other similar artifacts also confirm their worship toward the sun): „Paionians celebrate sun-god Illios as Payonian character in the form of a small (solar) disk placed on a long pole.“ The archaeological excavations of Belazora, Pelagonia, Gorintia, and other ancient cities scattered around Macedonia are ongoing on annual pace. The archaeologists of Macedonia dedicated the whole 2014 summer to excavations of what they believe was the ancient capital city of the Brygians – Pelagonia. It's situated around the Visoka peak and Staro Bonče. Archaeological finds from this and other sites show unmistakable Macedonian character of the Paionian and surrounding cultures. The bronze and ceramic artifacts resemble the typical „triple pattern‟ of the ornaments crafting, so characteristic for all the Macedonic burials and other everyday items in ancient Macedonia.

Above: Some of the Paionian amulets and pendants, known as ‘Macedonic Bronzes’, with classical Macedonian triple-pattern - from the necropolis of the ancient city of Gortinia, near today Gevgelia, Republic of Macedonia, 7th century BCE.

34 35

See Claude Rolley. Maximus of Tyre (lat. Cassius Maximus Tyrius). 22

Another similar specific feature of the Macedonian burial rituals is the tripod funeral altar 36 which is not found in the tombs of the Minoan and later Peloponnesus cultures, which used a sacrificial bed, known as "kline" (or Klinai). In addition to these features from the necropolis in Gorenci / Trebenište, metal containers were found that were unknown to the ancient Peloponnese. These and other most important features were identified by renowned French expert Claude Rolley, after the discovery of the necropolis at Sidon. "This proves that we are faced with two different funeral rituals," concluded Rolley. The remarkable continuity of the Macedonian ethnos in Paionia is verified by these and other artifacts which are sufficient to vindicate in principle the legitimacy of such an approach. One of the most decisive archaeological proofs from Upper Macedonian Paionia is the federal decree found at the village of Chepigovo, in the ruins of ancient Stibera. It shows that the Macedonian communities in Paionia were organized along closely related lines with the rest of Macedonia from oldest times until the end of their principality. Another inscription from Delphi leaves little doubt that the ancient Macedonian ethnos in Paionia survived not only as a recruitment unit in the case of external threats, but also as a political organization closely related to the Argead dynasty. The onomastic study of the names from numerous funerary steles, where we can read the typical Macedonic names (Aristo, Iole, Mende, Meto, Naumen, Panta, Pero, Phila, Straton, etc.), or the cities and places (Aineia, Belazora, Ber, Dober, Dikaia, Kalinda, Kos, Gareškos, Ole, Stena, Stobi, Skuopoi, etc.) underline their pure Macedonic essence beyond any doubt. Today, after numerous archaeological findings from the Macedonic Iron Age communities (when they reached their development peak) in Paionia, mainly along the rivers Vardar and Bregalnitsa (lat. Astibos), and in Pelagonia, it is scientifically accepted that they were part of the larger Macedonic family with a unique and easily recognizable culture, essentially different from the cultures of neighboring Gaul/Illyrians and Tribalians. Across the whole Paionian territory typical Macedonic style of the cult items made of bronze (amulets, pendants, figurines, etc.) and ceramic is easily recognizable, and in particular in female (priestesses) burials from the VII century BCE. Further, in light of their attributes, the warriors represented on the hoards of coinage may conceivably be identified as Macedonian. They carry a Macedonian pelte37, wear a traditional Macedonian hat kausia, and are shown in Macedonian clothing or heroic nudity. The warriors wearing the kausia are almost always clad in a chiton or naked. Around 335, Patraos succeeded Lykei as king of the Paionians. Like his predecessor, Patraos struck silver coinage (pari) in his own name, produced on a local weight standard of c.12.93g. The last known ancient Paionian king Dropion, in the district or city of Dober (lat. Doberus), minted different coins with both inscriptions „PAIONON‟ and „MAKEDONON‟ on the reverse. Archaeology has also revealed that the Macedonians didn't shared the Late Bronze Age material culture of the southern Peloponnesian city-states. Immigrants from south, commercial trade and 36

This ancient trinity principle was preserved through ancient artifacts and Macedonian funerary rituals, where is repeatedly found on the funeral altars and vessels, regularly positioned on three-legged supports. In the grave 5 from the archaeological site of Koreshnica (robbed by illegal diggers in1996) there were also three small bronze statues of warriors/deities situated around a huge bronze krater on a tripod. Also, this trinity patern is later found in the Slo-Venetic mythology, where we find the supreme Trinity/all-in-one god "Svarogo" (abreviation of "Sveg-Roda-Gospod" – „of-all kin god‟) , which consisted of "JAV" (visible material world that surrounds us) , "NAV" (celestial world) , and "PRAV" (the spiritual world of wisdom and justice), known also as "Triglav" - „triple-head‟; then through the Etruscan triad of gods - Jupiter, Juno (i.e. Etruscan goddess Uni) and Minerva, this "Trinity" was subsumed by the Romans, and presented in their Central Supreme Temple – the Roman Capitol in the ancient Rome central hilltop; and at the end this trinity was absorbed by the christianity (as "the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit"). 37 Pelte – Macedonian small round shield. Meaning „Button‟ in plain Macedonian. 23

goods were welcomed, but Macedonians remained a notoriously distinguished nation, speaking a language unintelligible to the inhabitants of the Peloponnesus. Materially, ancient Macedonians from Paionia in particular, appear to have been most closely related to the Macedonian Bryges/Brygians (later Phrygians) who occupied much of the central Macedonian plain (Pelagonia) and Polog valley long before the advent of Macedonian empire.

Above: Different Macedonic bronze figurines (from left to right): Bronze Maenad from Tetovo, 6th century B.C.E.; Dedal unearthed at Plaoshnik, Ohrid, 4/3rd century BCE; and a recently sequestered from the looters bronze horse figurine of yet unknown period and site. Below: Macedonian bronze sacramental statuette of Macedonic-Paionian/Phrygian goddess Kibela (Cybele) on a cart pulled by two lions, 4/3rd century BCE (only small part of the 2nd century BCE Roman plunder from Macedonia, today in Metropolitan Museum as part of the much recent WW2 American plunder from Italy); Next page: Another, much older, terracotta statuette of the same goddess from the 6th century BCE, with tambourine (or sun-disc) and flanked by two lions, part of 30 feminine statuettes some of which resilient to the 5th millennium BCE, found recently at the ancient holy locality of "Tsarevi Kuli " (Kings Towers) near Strumitsa, Republic of Macedonia.

Paionian kings: Bastareus, 400-380/78 BCE; known only from his coinage. Sitalces: included Agrianes and Laeaeans in his Macedonian campaign in 429 BCE. Agis, ?-359 BCE; founded the Paeonian kingdom; pretender to the Macedonian throne in a time of instability. Lycceius, 356-340 BCE; joined anti-Macedonian coalition with Grabos and Thrace in 356 BC. Patraeus, 340-315 BCE; served as a general to Alexander the Great in 331 BCE. Avdoleon, 315-285 BCE; son of Patraeus, reduced to great straits by the Autariatae, but was succoured by Cassander. Ariston, 286-285 BCE son of Audoleon, loyal vassal of Macedonia; commanded a single squadron of Paionians. Leon, 278-250 BCE; consolidated and restored lost lands after the Gallic Invasions in 280-279 BCE. Dropion, son of Leon 250-230 BCE; last known Paeonian king in 230 BC, of a dwindling kingdom. 26

Other chieftains: Pigres and Mantyes: two tyrant brothers which in 511 BCE persuaded Darius I to deport the coastal Paionians to Asia. Dokidan: of the Derrones; reigned during the 6th century BCE. Dokim: of the Derrones; reigned during the 6th century BCE. Euergetes: of the Derrones; reigned c.480-465 BCE, known only from his coinage. Teutaos: reigned from c.450-435 BCE; known only from his coinage. Teutamado: reigned from 378-359 BCE, known only from his coinage. Symnon: great ally of Phillip II from 348-336 BCE. Nicharchos: reigned from 335-323 BCE; son of Symnon. Langarus: of the Agrianes; invaded the territory of the Autariatae in 335 BCE in coalition with Alexander the Great. Dyplaios: of the Agrianes; reigend around 330 BCE. Didas: allied Philip V of Macedon with 4,000 warriors from 215-197 BCE.

Persian rulers: Darius I: subjugated coastal Paionia in 511-512 BCE. Xerxes: included Paionians in the vast Persian army of 481 BCE, for the Invasion of ancient citystates in Peloponesus.

References 1. Edward Holdsworth, "Remarks and Dissertations on Virgil, with some other Classical Observations". Published, with several notes and additional remarks, by Mr. Spence, London, 1768. 2. Charles Rollin, "The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, Persians, Macedonians, and Grecians". 1819. 3. Philip van Ness Myers, "Ancient History", 1888. 4. C.F. Hoffmann, "Die Makedonen, ihre Sprache und ihr Volkstum". Gottingen, 1906. 5. W.A. Heurtley, "Prehistoric Macedonia: An Archaeological Reconnaissance of Macedonia (West of Struma) in the Neolithic, Bronze and Early Iron Ages", Cambridge, 1939. 6. J. K. Ellis, "Philip II and Macedonian Imperialism". 1986. 7. O. Picard, "Deux emissions de bronzes d‟Amphipolis", 1994. 8. M. B. Hatzopoulos "Macedonian institutions under the kings", a historical and epigraphic study, 1996. 9. Eleonora Petrova, “Paeonia in the 2nd and the 1st millennia BC”, 1999. 10. Eleonora Petrova, "The Bryges in Central Balkans 2nd-1st millennium BCE", Museum of Macedonia. 11. Ricard Bianco López, "El poble Peoni: parent dels troians", 2001. 12. Anatoly Klyosov, "Otkud su se pojavili Sloveni i Indoevropljani? Odgovor daje DNKGenealogija." Ruski Vesnik No. 21, 2008. 13. Eftimija Pavlovska, "A coin hoard of the Paionian king Lycceius". 14. Eftimija Pavlovska, "The coinage of the Paionian kings Leon and Dropion", 2009. 15. Southeastern Europe Joint History, Workbook 2: Nations and States in Southeast Europe CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND RECONCILIATION IN SOUTHEAST EUROPE, 2009. 16. Kenneth W. Harl, "Alexander the Great and the Macedonian Empire", 2010. 17. Nicholas L. Wright, “The Horseman and the Warrior: Paionia and Macedonia in the Fourth Century BCE”. 18. Petar H. Ilievski, “Position of the Ancient Macedonian language and the name of the contemporary Macedonian”. 19. Patrick E. McGovern, "The Funerary Banquet of King Midas". 20. Snežana FILIPOVA “Early Christian Kultural Centers in Republic of Macedonia along the Via Egnatia.” 21. Nikos Chaušidis “Macedonian bronzes and the religion and mythology of Iron Age communities in the central Balkans”, 2017.